The event also will be emphatically covered by ratings and Web-traffic hungry mainstream media -- including The Washington Post -- that Stewart and Colbert vigorously mock.

But with its Capitol backdrop, exuberant crowd and clever placards, the Stewart-Colbert rally began to look like an ironic version of the political theater it sends up. At some point, do those mocking such hubris actually exhibit hubris?

The winners: ABC, CBS AP, NYT and especially National Public radio, for not letting its employees attend the rally. "Since they wouldn't allow any employees to attend, we were forced to [give the award] to someone with more courage -- a seven-year-old girl. Come on out darling."

"Are you scared to be here?" Colbert asked.

"No this is fun!" she responded.

Finally, the Washington Post has teamed up with Intersect to collect stories, photos, and videos of rally attendees which are being collected here. They include this dispatch from Alyssa, Mary, and Zoshia:

Alyssa Peterson of Chicago, Mary Toscano of Philadelphia and Zoshia Dunn of Albany are freshmen at Georgetown U. After shooting photos at the rally -- from an excellent vantage point on top of a Porta-Potty -- they went to Starbucks and talked about the true meaning of what they'd just seen. "Jon Stewart is sexy," declared Zoshia. "People will come here just to see him."

Said Alyssa: "It is entertainment...but people are getting tired of fringe politics." Her favorite sign? "The people who know the least are the loudest."